Sony Drops Prices... On The PS2

Sony (SNE) made its big gaming announcement this morning, and as we expected, the company cut prices on the outdated-but-still-selling-well PS2 to $100 from $130.

Still no price cuts on the flagging PS3.

For an older system with no HDMI support and outdated games, the PS2 still sells. And at only $99, the PS2 should put real price pressure on the "mini console" TV hookup for upstarts like OnLive, which gathered huge buzz at its debut earlier this month but has yet to hit the market.

Since Sony is committing to the PS2 for a while longer, we wish we would have seen something in this announcement that indicates the company is grooming new PS2 buyers for an eventual PS3 purchase.

Perhaps Sony could have added support to the PS2 for the PS3's wireless controlller and bundled one in, so anyone buying a PS2 now would already have a second controller for any future PS3. Or maybe include a PS2 game like God Of War, whose (second) sequel is a hotly anticipated PS3 exclusive.

Because right now there's nothing to deter new PS2 owners from eventually defecting to the Xbox line down the road, a problem Sony's been dealing with for years.